SSG Benjamin Wensel

, cello

Hometown:

Rochester, NY

Joined the band:

2003

Bachelor's Degree:

Cleveland Institute of Music

Master's Degree:

Eastman School of Music

A native of Western New York, SSG Benjamin Wensel earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Eastman School of Music, where he served as assistant to renowned pedagogue Alan Harris. Equally important to his musical education were performances in seminars and master classes for members of the Cleveland, Guaneri, Juilliard, Miami and Ying quartets; chamber music studies with Peter Salaff and members of the Audubon and Cavani Quartets; and solo master classes with Clemens Michael Hagen, Steven Isserlis and Michel Strauss.

Ben has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, and has been a member of The United States Army Orchestra, Strolling Strings and String Quartet since 2003. Additionally, Ben regularly appears with many of the fine local ensembles in the National Capital region.

Dedicated to the creation and promotion of vital new music, Ben performed the world premieres of more than twenty works written by established and emerging American composers as a founding member of the Tarab Cello Ensemble and participated in the ensemble’s residencies at Princeton University, Stetson University and the University of South Florida. Ben taught chamber music and maintained a studio at the Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he was cellist of the Hochstein String Quartet. Formerly a member of the artist faculty at the Washington Conservatory, Ben currently has a private studio in Fairfax, Virginia.

Fortunate to have many avenues to pursue chamber music in the artistically rich Capital region, Ben is the cellist of the piano trio - B.A.R., as well as being a member of the recently formed New Orchestra of Washington, the Piano Trio-in-Residence of the National Gallery of Art, the Eastmont Trio, and "Pershing's Own" Contemporary Music Ensemble (POCME). He can be heard on recordings produced by Bridge, Harmonia Mundi and Summit.